– Joseph Papp – interviewed by James Day – Day For Night Program – Jan. 31, 1974 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Joseph Papp, in conversation with James Day, from the broadcast of January 31, 1974. One of the most revolutionary figures in 20th century Theatre – taking what was, by the 1950s a potentially fading art, and injecting new life and a spirit into it that went on for decades after.
Unfortunately, if you didn’t live in New York, smack in the middle of Manhattan or one of the boroughs within easy access, you missed out on some amazing moments, and probably most of what Joseph Papp did had very little affect on you – to a degree. He championed the idea of performing Shakespeare in parks and taking Theatre to neighborhoods far removed from Broadway – to schools and vacant lots, turning people on to the magic of theatre who had never experienced it before. His Shakespeare In The Park in New York’s Central Park has become a staple of Manhattan summer life every year since 1957. And it has always been free. That concept of bringing theatre to everyone caught on all over the country, and many people who had never seen live Theatre before were getting exposure. And because Papp was also a champion of new writers, the new blood of playwrights was flowing.
When Joseph Papp died in 1991 it created a hole that still remains to be filled. One that is needed more now than ever.
As a reminder of Joseph Papp, the man and the force behind a revolutionary movement for change, here is that interview as part of the Day For Night series in 1974.
Tis the season – Thanksgiving, quickly followed by Christmas – quickly followed by New Years Eve. Long enough for you to wonder where the time, let alone the year, went. Yep, it’s moving fast and it’s moving crazy.
And you just want things to calm down – take it easy – not be so loud – not feel jostled all the time.
Not sure Past Daily can offer that every day, but we try. If you’ve been around the past few weeks you noticed we made some changes. Not running concerts and sessions at night anymore. We figured you probably wanted to get to sleep and having your ears glued to something high-voltage is probably not conducive to much needed nods. So we shifted the concerts to the morning, where you are probably staggering out of bed or on your way to work or hitting the gym. It seems to be working, as a lot of you have discovered us (after all these years) – and nighttime is heading off into the gentle direction. Interviews – history that doesn’t blow up or land into hysterics. We’re tinkering with the idea of putting up some ASMR to actually help you sleep, but that might be pushing things a bit far.
In any event, we’re here – Past Daily is trudging along and we’re always looking for your help and encouragement to keep us up and going. Costs even more now than it did this time last year. But we’re still offering you the best of what’s in the archive – yes, this is all from our Collection (except the sessions and concerts – gotta give credit where credit is due – BBC 6 Music and Radio X in London are essential sources of finding new music) but everything is the result of yours truly digging into boxes, climbing on shelves, falling into dumpsters. It’s history, it’s important and it’s yours if you want it. All you have to do, if you’re up for it, is subscribe via Patreon (that little box at the bottom of this post) – click on it and you’ll be taken to their site where you can subscribe to Past Daily, let them know how much you want to donate – or check us out for free, test drive our site as it were and decide to become part of the Past Daily experience. Simple, painless and we’ll love you for it. Do it if you can and you’ll be able to download your own copy of all our posts and new ones as they appear. Kind of cool, don’t you think? But you have to become a Patron in order to do it. Think about it – no pressure – honest – really . . no pressure. But there is that landlord . . . .
